Starting Notes:
Welcome back! This chapter… is exactly what you've all been waiting for, for the last 18 chapters. :D Let's get going, shall we?
Chapter 19: A Song of Ice and Fire
'Location not found.'
Yuno frowned as his duel disk let out several loud beeps. He was currently at the edge between the Jungle Area and Iceberg Area, so there was a certain chill in the air. Miharu's programs are never wrong. The tracking program should still be working, so why can't it pick up her location? Is she in danger? Is something disrupting her duel disk's signal?
He grimaced. His head was still hurting—a while ago, he had just been hit by a terrible feeling, and he had heard Magnetic Current's roar in his head. He still didn't know why.
"Yuno!"
"Yuya, Gongenzaka," Yuno greeted. "Did you bump into Yuzu?" The two boys looked at each other, before looking back at Yuno. "Hmm? Were you not coming from the Iceberg Area?"
"We were. Yuzu wasn't there."
Yuno frowned. "That's where she headed though. She and Serena split up to go to the Iceberg Area and Ruins Area respectively. Maybe she was chased by Academia and had to go to a different area?"
"Academia? Serena?" Yuya repeated, sounding completely confused.
Yuno quickly explained what had happened, including the existence of Serena, who shared Yuzu and Miharu's faces.
"Yuzu changed clothes with her?" Yuya said, sounding dismayed. "That's far too dangerous!"
"I agree," Yuno said. "But they did it anyway… I was searching for people to warn them about Academia. Even if it's not in the best of circumstances, I'm glad you're safe, Yuya."
Yuya smiled, despite the clear worry in his eyes for Yuzu. If the situation wasn't so dire, Yuno might tease him about his feelings. "Thanks. You said that you were in the Volcano Area, right? Did you spot Kurosaki? I kind of passed out after my duel, and Gongenzaka and Mieru-san evacuated me from the Ruins Area. Uh, I don't know if you know what Kurosaki looks like—"
Passed out?
For a moment, Yuno thought about the strange headache he had a while back. However, he dismissed it.
"Of course I know what Kurosaki looks like," Yuno teased. "I met him long before you did."
"Right…"
"But no, I haven't seen him. I haven't seen his partner, Kamisoka-san, either."
"There's so many people that wouldn't know about Academia here," Yuya murmured. He explained what had happened to him too, and how he and Kurosaki had seen Academia in the area, led by Sora.
"Well, if Yuzu was in the Iceberg Area, she'd have gone to you," Yuno said, pointing out the obvious. "She might have retreated back to the Volcano Area. Shall we go together?"
"Alright."
Gongenzaka spoke up. "What about Miharu-san?" Considering that he wasn't exactly close friends with Miharu, he spoke of her with more formality than he did Yuno. "Are you not searching for her too?"
"… I don't think I can find her right now," Yuno admitted. Either something had happened to Miharu's duel disk, or she had purposely turned off tracking. Either way, it was useless trying to find her. "And she would probably prefer if I spent that time trying to protect others instead—since she's perfectly capable of handling herself." He smiled. "Let's go find Yuzu, and if possible, everyone else."
"Yuno…" Yuya stared at him, wide-eyed. Gongenzaka, meanwhile, reached out and pulled Yuno into a hug—was he crying?
"You're such a man, Yuno! To believe in your friends so much… it makes this man, Gongenzaka, wish to weep—"
"Ok, ok, big guy! Let's cool down a little!" Yuno floundered for a moment.
Yuya laughed.
And for a brief moment, Yuno allowed himself to forget about his worries.
"Hey, Kurosaki, are you alright?" Serena asked, clear concern on her face as she reached down to help him up again. She spotted blue hair behind them and cursed, leaning forward to pull him onto her shoulder again.
"Oi, oi, are you serious?" Sora Shiun'in approached them, the Honor Student of Academia still smiling widely. Serena would call it a sadistic smile, if she was being blunt. "Would you mind letting me finish that guy off? After all, if you stand in my way, you're just going to get hurt too."
"The way that you were dueling…" Serena gritted her teeth. "There's no nobility to that at all!" She let her anger and her feelings of betrayal show themselves. "You were dueling just to hurt him!"
"Well, yes," Sora said, tilting his head. "That is how war is fought, after all. You're a member of Academia, shouldn't you know that much?"
And that—
That casual dismissal of the injuries that he had caused to Shun Kurosaki made Serena's faith shatter.
"I met Ruri Kurosaki," Serena said aloud, and Shun turned to gaze at her, clear shock in his eyes, despite how wary he was. "She was trying to escape, and she failed. When we met, I was still blind to everything. I told her that if the Xyz Dimension duelists had fought and been carded, then it was an honourable loss. But now I realise that I've been fed with nothing but lies by my father, and by all of you!"
Her anger extended to the man who had adopted her too—the man who had been nothing but aloof to her, who she had longed for the approval of but now despised as much as she loved.
"I still believe in my ideals about dueling," Serena said. "But I don't believe that Academia embodies them anymore. I want my dueling to be righteous, I want to always do the right thing."
"There is no such thing as the right thing," Sora scoffed. "Only the results matter. And if you don't succeed, it doesn't matter if you did the right thing."
"That's absolutely wrong!" Serena shouted. "I would rather die for the right thing than fight for the wrong reasons! I believe in justice. For Ruri Kurosaki, who woke me up. For Chiaki Katsuya, who was unafraid to tell me her hatred. For Yuzu Hiiragi, who gave me the chance to seek my truth! For Miharu Kogami, who forced me to face myself and understand that I was being a hypocrite! For Rin, who I didn't get to meet, but who I want to understand too!"
She slammed a hand against her chest.
"I will fight against Academia! So no, I won't step aside—I will make up for my past mistakes, and I'll start by protecting him!"
Sora stared at her, and then he scoffed. "Just because you're the Professor's daughter," he said, "do you think that you stand a chance out there by yourself?"
"But she's not by herself," Kurosaki said, his voice slightly hoarse, but just as determined as Serena's. He tried to stand up, but Serena jabbed him in the side, glaring at him to not try to move.
"Oh, I'm sure you're going to be a lot of help, wounded falcon," Sora said, rolling his eyes. "Alright then—"
Then, they were interrupted by the same two ninjas that had met up with her and Yuzu earlier. One of them held Sora off, while the other ushered Serena and Shun along. Serena didn't let Tsukikage be the one to support Shun—some part of her felt wildly protective over Shun, mostly because he was Ruri Kurosaki's brother.
Ah.
I guess I feel guilty over the things I said to her.
I have to apologise to her. I guess helping to rescue her would be a good start.
They carried on moving to escape—
"I think that's far enough." A voice called from above them. In front of them, a Solid Vision wall of dark flames shot up, fitting in particularly well with the environment. Serena looked up. Standing there was a figure in a white hood and cloak—one that she recognised.
"You… you're the White Inferno!" Serena had heard tales—Yuri's new partner, who mostly kept to himself, never showed his face and seemed to take dueling less seriously than anyone else. Someone who absolutely refused to even touch another person in Academia.
The white-hooded figure sighed. "Serena Akaba," he said. His voice was rather quiet and emotionless. "If you surrender here, I promise that your friends will leave unscathed. You are our only target."
"And what about me makes me so important?" Serena demanded. "I thought it was because I was the Professor's adoptive daughter—but did he only adopt me because of my face?"
"I don't know," the figure responded. "Nor do I care." His words were rather curt. "I don't care about your family drama. Well?"
"If you agree, I will punch you," Kurosaki muttered.
"I don't intend to agree." Serena took a step forward, before another person ran in, breathing quickly, as though they had run a marathon.
"Sorry!" The newcomer said, pressing her hands together. "Could you leave this duel to me, um, p-please?"
"Who are you?" Serena asked, blinking in confusion.
"Right, uh, I don't think we've met." The blue-haired girl bobbed her head in a quick half-bow, her ponytails whisking through the air. "Kyorin Rinsoka of the Ritual Dimension. I'm currently working with Reiji Akaba." She turned towards the White Inferno. "I'd prefer to be the one to duel him."
"Why?"
"He's an old friend," Kyorin said after a moment. The white-hooded figure still hadn't moved. "Isn't that right, Yuji?"
… this guy's name was Yuji?
Kyorin took another step towards the figure on the cliff. "I know your voice, Yuji," she said. She sounded rather nervous, but beneath the nervousness was a slowly growing determination. "And I know your face too. There's… no need to hide from me—"
"You're telling me that he's a Ritual Dimension resident, but he's fighting for Academia?" Kurosaki interrupted. "Why—"
The white hood was pulled off. White and light blue hair spilled out from within it, going down to the bottom of the boy's neck. He had piercing silver eyes—and his face was exactly the same as Yuri's.
Kurosaki cut himself off at the sight. "... Yuto," he muttered, his voice sounding strangled.
"I knew it," Kyorin muttered to herself.
"What did you know, Kyorin Rinsoka?" Yuji asked, raising an eyebrow. "We barely knew each other for a month. You know nothing about me." There was something cold and unfeeling to his voice, but Kyorin didn't budge.
"I know enough to consider you a friend," Kyorin said gently.
"Then clearly, everything you know is wrong." Yuji cleared his throat, glancing off into the distance. "... I never considered you a friend. There is only one person in the world whose fate matters to me, and you are not her."
Serena gritted her teeth as her past memories came floating back to her all of a sudden.
"Why won't you talk to me?"
"Yuri, what's wrong?"
"I never considered you a friend in the first place."
She opened her mouth to yell at Yuji, in place of this nervous, shrinking violet that he was insulting—
"If you truly meant that," Kyorin replied, her voice taking on a slightly more steely tone, "look at me and say it to my face. Or do you not have the courage for that?"
Serena's mouth hung open in shock.
(Where had this girl's nervousness gone?)
"… Kyorin," Yuji said after a moment. "Move aside."
"I'm sorry, but I can't do that." Kyorin reached out a hand. "Yuji. Where's Chiaki? If—"
It was an instantaneous transformation. Before that name—Chiaki—Yuji had looked rather tired, somewhat reluctant to duel. However, the moment that the name was spoken, the look in Yuji's eyes grew far colder—his expression hardened, turning into something relentless.
Kyorin seemed to notice, flinching.
"I don't trust you," Yuji said after a moment. "The timing of your arrival was far too coincidental, considering that you showed up at the same time as Johan and Asuka."
"Huh?" Kyorin blinked. "Wait, what did Johan and Asuka do? I thought that they were taken along with the two of you…"
Yuji bristled for a moment. "They betrayed us, because she and I were Academia's targets from the very start," he said.
Serena frowned. That made sense, but… in that case…
"Then, why are you working for Academia?" Serena asked aloud. "Whatever it is that Academia has offered you, it's not worth doing the wrong thing…"
"... your friend kidnapped us. And now we're here. And let's not get started on what they're doing to my best friend. I don't give a fuck what you say about this school. Quite frankly—I will never forgive anyone here. Someday, I will escape. And I will destroy everyone that stands with Academia, no matter what they look like."
'Let's not get started on what they're doing to my best friend,' Chiaki had said when Serena had met her, her eyes blazing with rage.
Her best friend, who could only be 'Yuji', standing right in their path, ready to take Serena back to the same people who had taken him and Chiaki from their home in the first place.
It didn't make any sense.
"... you've always been bad at truly saying what you mean, Yuji," Kyorin said. "If you're crying out for help, or if you're snarling at me for getting in your way… I can't tell what you're trying to tell me at all." She raised her duel disk. "So, if you can't speak your reasons aloud, let me hear them through this!"
"... weren't you duel-averse?" Yuji raised his head, looking down on them. "Kyorin Rinsoka. Let me ask you a simple question. If you're truly just a normal person, how did you get to the Standard Dimension in the first place?"
"... your Fusion counterpart dropped a card that I picked up," Kyorin replied. "It brought me here."
"... liar." Yuji raised his duel disk. "Very well. It's… terribly ironic that the first time we're dueling is like this. But if you're in my path, prepare to be pushed aside."
[ACTION DUEL!]
Yuji Fujita: 4000LP
Kyorin Rinsoka: 4000LP
[Turn 1: Kyorin] [H:5]
The randomiser gave Kyorin the first turn, and both of them drew their hands immediately. Considering that behind them was Sora, and in front of them was Yuji, they were kind of stuck between a rock and a hard place. Thus, Serena helped Shun to a comfortable seating position.
She'd just have to trust in the strength of this girl—and wasn't that an odd thought?
Someone who was shivering and stuttering at the start, and yet seemed to have gained some kind of courage when faced with her old friend.
"I will Normal Summon Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands," Kyorin declared. In front of her, the silver fairy appeared, its molten metal hands slowly reaching out around it.
[Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands (4*/1400/1000/LIGHT/Fairy/Effect)]
"Then, since I Normal Summoned Manju, I can add a Ritual Spell from my deck to my hand." Kyorin picked up a card from her deck. "I will activate the Ritual Spell, Nekroz Cycle!" A bright golden glow surrounded the field in front of her. "I will tribute Shurit, Strategist of the Nekroz, in my hand, and his effect allows me to treat him as the full tribute for the Ritual Summon of a "Nekroz" monster!"
The golden glow consumed the entire field in an instant.
"Fabled wisdom of the roaring demon gods," Kyorin chanted. "Be channelled into the mirror formed from ice, and bless the ancient sorcerer! Ritual Summon! Level 8! Nekroz of Valkyrus!" A white-haired man in a red tunic appeared, his long hair contrasting sharply with said tunic, also standing out starkly from the black cape that was drifting behind him. He was holding onto a dark staff, with a weary look on his face.
[Nekroz of Valkyrus (8*/2900/1700/WATER/Spellcaster/Ritual/Effect)]
"And since Shurit was tributed by a card effect, I can add a Warrior Ritual Monster to my hand." Kyorin took out a card that slipped out of her deck. "Then, I will activate Valkyrus's effect. I can tribute up to two monsters from my hand or field, and then draw the same number of cards as monsters that I tributed. I will tribute Manju on the field and Exa, Enforcer of the Nekroz in my hand. Demonic Renewal!"
She drew two cards from her deck.
"I will also use the effect of Exa. Since it was tributed, I can add a Dragon-Type "Nekroz" Ritual Monster from my deck to my hand." She refilled her hand to five cards. "I will end my turn."
Just like that…
[Turn 2: Yuji] [H:6]
Yuji drew. He seemed barely fazed by the strong monster that Kyorin had brought out on her first turn.
"I will Normal Summon Graff, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss," Yuji said. The canine, winged demon with eyes of molten magma appeared.
[Graff, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss (3*/1000/1500/DARK/Fiend/Effect)]
"Then, since I control no Spells and Traps, I can Special Summon Barbar, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss from my hand," Yuji continued calmly. A large, viking-like monster appeared, with grey-white skin. A horned helmet could be seen on top of its head, and it was holding onto a spiked morningstar.
[Barbar, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss (3*/1700/1000/DARK/Fiend/Effect)]
"I will then overlay the Level 3 Barbar and Graff," Yuji said, shocking everyone that was currently there. Kurosaki jerked forward from the wall, before grimacing and holding his stomach. It didn't stop him from shouting.
"You're using our summoning method while fighting in Academia's name? How dare you!"
Yuji shrugged. "I don't really care. I was given the card and told to put in my best effort. What else should I have done? If you hate it so much, you can hope that Kyorin wipes it out. In the middle of the journey of our life, I found myself within a dark woods where the straight way was lost. Xyz Summon! Rank 3! Dante, Traveler of the Burning Abyss!"
The blue-haired man appeared in front of him, sitting in Defense Position.
[Dante, Traveler of the Burning Abyss (R3/1000/2500/LIGHT/Warrior/Xyz/Effect) (OU:2)]
"Silver eyes, white and light blue hair…" Tsukikage murmured. "And he uses Fiends? That's a very different appearance from what one might expect."
"I will activate the effect of Dante," Yuji said. "By detaching an Overlay Unit, I can choose a number from one to three. Then, I will send that number of cards from the top of my deck to the graveyard. I will choose three." Three cards fell into the graveyard. "Pulled to the Underworld." His graveyard slot glowed. "First, Dante gains 500 attack points for every card sent to the graveyard until the End Phase, though I don't intend on attacking this turn regardless."
[Dante, Traveler of the Burning Abyss: 1000 + 500 x 3 = 2500ATK; OU:2 - 1 = OU:1]
"Then, the effects of my "Burning Abyss" monsters that were sent to the graveyard activate," Yuji continued. "First. Graff, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss's effect, since it was sent to the graveyard as the cost for Dante's effect. I will Special Summon a "Burning Abyss" monster from my deck." He plucked out a card from his deck. "Come. Cagna, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss." A dark, bestial creature appeared, with matted grey fur, and large black claws. Three pointed horns could be seen on the top of its head, and black fur fell back around it like a mane.
[Cagna, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss (3*/1500/300/DARK/Fiend/Effect)]
"Next. Farfa, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss's effect activates. I can target and banish a monster until the End Phase." He pointed to Valkyrus.
"I knew you would try to get Farfa's effect to trigger," Kyorin murmured. "I will discard Nekroz of Trishula to negate that effect." A coat of frost covered the ground suddenly, the ice being cold to the touch. Serena took a step away from the field. "Farfa is the only monster you have that can directly remove monsters from the field."
"That is true," Yuji said. "I still have two more effects to activate. Draghig, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss's effect. I will place a "Burning Abyss" card from my deck on top of my deck." He searched out a card, placing it on top of his deck. "And finally, Cir, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss. With its effect, I can revive a "Burning Abyss" monster. So I will revive Graff."
The dark dog appeared on his field as well, right next to Cagna. The two of them let out aggressive, territorial growls towards each other.
"If I can't attack your monster, I can only choose to set a card and end my turn," Yuji said. "Over to you, Kyorin. With this kind of strength, it's odd that you never dueled."
"I am not strong," Kyorin said, biting her lip. "I was never as strong as you and Chiaki—"
"Cut the humility." Yuji said. "I don't want to hear it. I don't know how strong you are. And you have no clue what kind of person I am."
[Turn 3: Kyorin] [H:5]
"Draw," Kyorin said. She glanced across Yuji's field. "All Burning Abyss monsters have an effect when sent to the graveyard… I don't know what your new Xyz Monster does, but Cagna lets you send a "Burning Abyss" Spell or Trap to the graveyard, and Graff lets you Special Summon another one from your deck…" She closed her eyes. "... alright. I'll discard Nekroz of Catastor from my hand, and that'll allow me to Special Summon a "Nekroz" monster from my graveyard. I will revive Shurit."
A red and white-haired boy appeared, with two dual-coloured red and green eyes.
[Shurit, Strategist of the Nekroz (3*/300/1800/WATER/Warrior/Effect)]
"I will then activate the effect of Nekroz of Unicore in my hand," Kyorin continued, revealing the blue-bordered card. "By discarding him, I can add a "Nekroz" card other than Unicore from my graveyard to my hand. I will add Nekroz Cycle back to my hand, and then I'll activate it. I will tribute Shurit as the full tribute! Dragon of the ice barrier, with the wrathful nature of the protector, be channelled into the mirror formed from ice, and bless the young princess! Ritual Summon! Level 7! Nekroz of Gungnir!"
A red-haired woman dressed in armour made of curly ice crystals appeared, holding onto a staff with a mirror at the end of it.
[Nekroz of Gungnir (7*/2500/1700/WATER/Spellcaster/Ritual/Effect)]
"Nekroz of Gungnir," Yuji repeated.
"I will activate the effect of Shurit," Kyorin declared. "I will add another "Nekroz" Warrior Ritual Monster from my deck to my hand. And then, Valkyrus's effect. I will tribute Great Sorcerer of the Nekroz and Ariel, Priestess of the Nekroz in my hand to draw two cards." She swiped up a card from her deck. "Great Sorcerer's effect. Since he was tributed, I can add a "Nekroz" Spellcaster Ritual Monster from my deck to my hand! Ariel's effect lets me add a "Nekroz" monster that is not a Ritual Monster from my deck to my hand."
She refilled her hand back to five cards again.
"A deck built entirely around card advantage, despite Ritual Summoning using up a lot of cards by necessity…" Serena murmured. "So this is the true strength of Ritual Summoning." There had been some Ritual Monsters back in the Fusion Dimension, but Serena had never met someone who had been able to use them quite so fluidly.
She glanced at Yuji.
If he was from the Ritual Dimension, why wasn't he Ritual Summoning?
"I will activate Gungnir's effect, Yuji!" Kyorin called. "I will discard a "Nekroz" card to target a card on the field and destroy it! I will target Dante, Traveler of the Burning Abyss! Frozen Waltz Spear!" Dancing through the air, Gungnir aimed her staff towards Dante, ice shooting out towards the traveler.
"Trap Card, Fire Lake of the Burning Abyss." Yuji flipped over the card, and Kyorin grimaced. "You forget, Kyorin, that you already showed me your deck before. Gungnir's effect targets as its cost. Therefore, if I send Dante and Graff to the graveyard, I dodge your effect—and I get to destroy up to three cards on the field. I will destroy Nekroz of Gungnir and Nekroz of Valkyrus." The two Ritual Monsters were destroyed in an instant, even as the two monsters vanished from Yuji's field.
Kyorin bit her lip. "You remembered my effects even though I only showed my deck to you once? Yuji, did you…"
"I will activate the effect of Dante, since he was sent to the graveyard. I can add another "Burning Abyss" monster from my graveyard to my hand. I will add Cir back to my hand. Generous Retrieval." He held up two more fingers. "And I will activate the effects of Graff and Barbar, who were sent to the graveyard as well."
Right, he still had Barbar attached as an Overlay Unit to Dante.
"Graff will Special Summon Scarm, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss from my deck." The white-haired demon with long skeletal claws appeared, letting out a hiss.
[Scarm, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss (3*/800/2000/DARK/Fiend/Effect)]
"And Barbar's effect will banish up to three other "Burning Abyss" cards from my graveyard to inflict 300 damage to you for each." Yuji took out three cards from his graveyard. "Fire Lake, Draghig and Farfa." Three large fireballs shot out at Kyorin, and she dodged, the flames landing all around her.
Kyorin: 4000 - 300 x 3 = 3100LP
Serena blinked.
It was Kyorin's turn, and yet she had done the equivalent of setting off a nuclear bomb on the field. Now, her field was empty, and Yuji still had two monsters on the field—Scarm and Cagna.
And yet, Kyorin carried on anyway. "I'll activate the effect of Nekroz Cycle in the graveyard. By banishing it from the graveyard along with a "Nekroz" monster—Great Sorcerer—while I control no monsters, I can add a "Nekroz" Spell from my deck to my hand!" She pulled out a card from her deck. "And since Great Sorcerer was banished, I can send a different "Nekroz" monster from my deck to the graveyard." She took a deep breath. "I will activate the Ritual Spell, Nekroz Mirror. I can perform a Ritual Summon of a "Nekroz" monster in my hand using materials in my hand or field, or by banishing them from the graveyard!"
Yuji narrowed his eyes.
"Shurit's effect allows him to act as the full tribute. I will banish him from the graveyard." She revealed the card in her hand. "Destroyer of the ice barrier. Be channelled into the mirror formed from ice, and bless the young warrior! Ritual Summon! Level 9! Nekroz of Trishula!"
The red-haired man appeared, wearing icy armour, with wide ice wings behind him. He was holding onto a long ice sword. A draconian tail swung through the air behind him.
[Nekroz of Trishula (9*/2700/2000/WATER/Warrior/Ritual/Effect)]
"Trishula's effect. I will banish a card from your field, hand and graveyard," Kyorin declared. "Regal Shock Freeze! I will banish Scarm from your field, Dante from your graveyard so that you can't just bring it back with Cir, and a random card from your hand!" The three cards flew into Yuji's banished pile. Yuji grimaced. "I will have Trishula attack Cagna!"
The draconian man sliced through Cagna gracefully. Yuji's life points fell.
Yuji: 4000 - 1200 = 2800LP
"Since Cagna was sent to the graveyard, I can send a "Burning Abyss" Spell or Trap from my deck to the graveyard," Yuji said calmly.
"I will end my turn," Kyorin said.
Wordlessly, Yuji swiped up the top card of his deck. Despite the fact that it was an Action Duel, Serena noted that neither Kyorin nor Yuji had gone for Action Cards yet. Kyorin was obviously far more experienced with Action Duels than the rest of the dimensional travellers in Standard. Even so…
Does she want to face him on even ground?
[Turn 4: Yuji] [H:4]
"Draw," Yuji said. He glanced at his cards. "I will activate the Spell Card, Pre-Preparation of Rites. I will add a Ritual Spell and its corresponding Ritual Monster from my deck to my hand." He gestured to his graveyard. "The card that I sent to the graveyard with Cagna's effect was Sins Cast into the Burning Abyss. I will banish it from the graveyard to add a "Burning Abyss" monster from my graveyard to my hand. I will add Graff back to my hand." He revealed a card in his hand. "Activating the Ritual Spell, Good & Evil in the Burning Abyss. And I will offer up the Level 3 Graff and the Level 3 Scarm in my hand as tribute." The two cards dissolved into darkness, before erupting into hellfire.
"For the providence that gave them the fifth pit to govern as the ministers of its will takes from their souls the power of leaving it! Appear now, leader of the Malebranche! Rule over this world with your heart of fire and brimstone! Ritual Summon! Level 6! Malacoda, Netherlord of the Burning Abyss!"
The demon surrounded by blue and red fire appeared with a loud roar.
[Malacoda, Netherlord of the Burning Abyss (6*/2700/2200/DARK/Fiend/Ritual/Effect)]
"Graff's effect," Yuji continued. "I will Special Summon another "Burning Abyss" monster from my deck. Come—Cagna." Another copy of the beastly monster appeared next to Malacoda. "And I assume that if you remember my deck so clearly, you remember Malacoda's effect, correct?" He narrowed his eyes. "I will discard Charon, Ferry Boatman of the Burning Abyss. And your monster's attack and defense points fall by Charon's. Hellraking Drain!"
Malacoda let out a loud bellow, and Trishula was forced to his knees as shadows swarmed around him, draining his strength.
[Nekroz of Trishula: 2700 - 2400 = 300ATK; 2000 - 2600 = 0DEF]
"And since Charon was sent to the graveyard," Yuji said clinically, "I can add a "Burning Abyss" Spell or Trap from my deck to my hand." He added another card to his hand. "Malacoda attacks your Trishula. Hellfire Inferno!"
"I will activate the effect of Nekroz of Decisive Armor. I will discard him and grant 1000 more attack and defense points to Trishula until the End Phase." A glow surrounded Trishula—not stopping it from being destroyed, but increasing its stats so that Kyorin took less damage.
[Nekroz of Trishula: 300 + 1000 = 1300ATK; 2000 - 2600 + 1000 = 400DEF]
Kyorin: 3100 - 1400 = 1700LP
"So you barely escaped losing. Cagna!" The demon leapt forward, biting at Kyorin.
Kyorin: 1700 - 1500 = 200LP
Kyorin got back up, biting her lip.
"I will set a card and end my turn. Scarm's effect allows me to add a Level 3 DARK Fiend monster from my deck to my hand." He placed the card in his hand. "Over to you."
Kyorin breathed out slowly, seeming like she was mildly panicking.
"There is no need for this," Yuji said after a moment. "You are not involved in this war. Academia is not after you. You can live a life entirely your own. Why involve yourself?"
And then—
Serena heard Kyorin's gentle, crystal clear laughter.
Yuji's face seemed to freeze for a moment in confusion.
"It's true," Kyorin said. She took a deep breath. "I—I could definitely live a peaceful life. But Yuji, what about you?"
Yuji tilted his head, looking genuinely confused.
"Don't you get it yet?" Kyorin chuckled weakly. "Yuji, you and her… and to an extent, Asuka-san and Johan-san, you all are my reason for taking part in this war."
"Because you want to defeat us?"
"Because you are my friend, Yuji Fujita," Kyorin replied. "I thought you were captured, and so I wanted to rescue you all." Her hand was shaking as she touched the deck slot of her duel disk. "I don't care if you don't trust me. I don't care if you really, truly, never considered me a friend at all… because I miss you."
She picked up the top card of her deck.
"So, I want to go back to those days when we skipped school and ate cake together at the cafes. To when we hung out on rooftops and we waited for Chiaki to be done beating up bullies." Kyorin reached out her other hand again. "Please, Yuji. I still don't know why you're fighting for Academia, but we can work things out together. You're not alone."
Serena felt uncomfortable at witnessing this private moment between the two friends. For a moment, she thought about Yuri again—her only friend back then. How hard she tried to reach out to him, only to be rejected. Judging from Kurosaki's expression, something about Kyorin's words resonated with him as well.
"Please, Yuji," Kyorin said, not starting her turn yet. "Please tell me why."
Yuji put a hand on the hot rock surface behind him. When he raised his hand again, his palm was red, signalling how it had been burned by the rock—a casual display of self-harm. "I will tell you," he said. "But not because you moved me in any way. Simply because I'm tired of being asked. It feels like I never stop being asked why I turned to this path. And more importantly, because like I keep saying, you don't know me, Kyorin. And you don't really know Chiaki either. You only know the people who we try to become."
Once upon a time, there was a public library at the western side of Domino City. It was in the lower-income area of the city—set up by a program by the wealthy Pegasus Crawford, to hopefully provide the children there with a different way to spend their time than delinquency. To encourage them to search for a better future. Then, one day, as the librarian was going through the shelves, they discovered a small boy sleeping at the back of the library, a book in his hands. That boy was me, as you might expect.
I had been in an orphanage from basically the moment that I was born. No one knew who my parents were. And I hated it there. There were too many people in one area, and I realised from a very young age that I could not stand being around people.
Naturally, I ran away.
It was easy at first, I suppose. Either that, or it felt so much better than before that I didn't realise there was any hardship involved. When you're accustomed to living with very little, you learn that there are always ways to get more, if you try. I stole food from the stores around the area after hours, since some of them left stocks in loaded vehicles. At first, I was just stealing enough to get by, since carrying more things around would've tired me out more.
And then, I found the library.
The library was open twenty-four seven, though obviously, very few people would be in there at night. So I had found a good place to sleep. The librarian was usually just at the counter, so they never noticed me sneaking in and sleeping through the night. In the day, I would steal more food, eat it outside, and then go back into the library. That's how I learned to read, actually—I just kept on reading to pass the time, because what else was there for me?
It…
I would say it was a good life.
That is, until I was found out. The librarian kicked me out—said that loiterers weren't allowed. From then on, that librarian kept an eye out for me, never allowing me in.
So I moved on and on, to new buildings. I was six at the time. And I was seven when I met Chiaki.
Neither of us had names at the time. She had just run away from her orphanage. She had clearly been a little luckier than me—sent to an orphanage in the middle-income area of Domino City. At the same time, it meant that unlike me, she had somewhat more spine.
It wasn't like she was in trouble. We just… met. And somehow, it started with me teaching her how to steal food—it wasn't like those stores would be losing much from two children stealing a few meals, anyway. I think I saw her and… well, I didn't want to leave her without the skills to survive.
It was weird. I had never cared for a person before that, but I think what I felt for Chiaki, what I still feel for her now… it was genuine. I kept telling myself that we would go our separate ways after I taught her just one more thing, and then just another, and then eventually, we were ten, and we had given each other names out of the blue. One day, she just called me Yuji, and I called her Chiaki, and those were our names from then on. No real meaning to them, other than the fact that we gave them to each other. I just thought it would sound nice. She probably came up with mine on the spot—she couldn't read until we were adopted, after all.
Then, we did something that changed our lives forever.
We attempted to rob two people on the street.
And that is how we were adopted by our guardians, Kyorin. It wasn't some sweet saccharine story about an immediate connection with a kid on the street. Jounouchi Katsuya, as the entirety of Domino City knows, started off as a gangster too. They adopted us because they saw themselves in us—and they were truly once like us. They wanted to teach us a better way than violence and crime, and so by the time you met us, we had mellowed out. But we were born into violence, and we never quite shook that off. That's why Chiaki still hunts people that she thinks are unjust, with her merciless judgement. That's why I didn't duel much back then. I was afraid that if I dueled, it would end up being nothing more than a way for me to take out this strange violence—not anger, it wasn't anything like anger, it was just a need to make something else hurt—on someone else. Potentially someone else I cared about.
I do not care about peace.
"Then, what do you care about?" Kurosaki spoke up, after that long story.
Yuji shrugged. "After all of that, you still don't understand?" He cleared his throat—he had never liked talking, after all. "If I had the freedom to do so, I would raze Academia to the ground, and leave every person within it to burn. But I do not." The way that he said the words felt so casual—as though it was a completely normal thing for a person to say. "They hurt Chiaki. I will never forgive that. At the same time, I was told one thing when I was dragged to Academia—that if I don't perform to expectations—"
A memory came to Yuji then.
"As long as you comply with our orders, Chiaki Katsuya will remain completely unharmed. Fail, and she will suffer the consequences of it. I was told that you were unmotivated. Is this enough motivation for you, if you claim that she's your best friend?"
"Chiaki suffers for my disobedience," Yuji said. "It may be an empty threat. It may not be. But I have someone that means more than anyone else in the world to me. The wrong thing? The right thing? All my life, I never cared about either of those things." He cleared his throat, feeling something burning in his chest. The words that he had never known how to say burst forth, in enmity rather than love. "I would do anything in the world to be by Chiaki's side. Those bastards took her from me. That's the wrong thing. At the same time, I will do any wrong that they ask of me, so that Chiaki will never be in danger! Because I care for Chiaki Katsuya, more than I give a damn about your worlds."
He looked at them.
"And this is why you'll never convince me to defect to your side. Justice? Only children care about it. Honour? That's a social construct used to shame people into behaving. Mercy? It exists only for those with a choice. I outgrew all of those things long before I ever fell into Academia's hands." He tapped his wrist. "If I'm going to be used, let me be used. My side isn't Academia, nor is it yours. My side is the side that 'most likely guarantees Chiaki Katsuya's safety'. That is all. If you stop me from succeeding, you oppose me. That is my reasoning, completely laid out for you, Kyorin. Are you satisfied?"
He closed his eyes, breathing out slowly.
That is the reason that I destroyed those mind-controlling parasites, of course. To slow down that man's attempt to suppress the will of others. As if I'd allow anyone to ever do that to Chiaki.
No one is capable of telling Chiaki Katsuya what to do.
"Has it ever occurred to you," Kyorin said after a moment, "that your choices are stopping her from being rescued?"
"If she escapes and we're not strong enough to stop her from being taken again, then it's pointless," Yuji pointed out. "We'd be all on our own—it would take barely any effort for Academia to capture us again."
"Then get Chiaki out and team up with us," Kyorin said. "We can keep her safe—like I keep saying, you're not alone—"
"Take your turn, Kyorin," Yuji said, turning away.
Kyorin bit her lip. "Y-yuji," she whispered, but when he gave no response, she finally started her turn. On Yuji's field, there was a set card, along with Malacoda and Cagna. Meanwhile, Kyorin's field was currently empty.
[Turn 5: Kyorin] [H:3]
"Since I control no monsters, I can banish Nekroz Mirror from the graveyard, along with a "Nekroz" monster in my graveyard, to add a "Nekroz" Spell to my hand." Kyorin picked up another card from her deck. "And since I banished Exa, I can Special Summon a banished Nekroz monster. I will Special Summon Shurit back to my field." The red and white-haired boy appeared, heterochromatic eyes blinking slowly. "I will activate the Ritual Spell, Nekroz Cycle, and use Shurit for the full tribute, to Ritual Summon a "Nekroz" monster from my graveyard this time."
She pressed her hands together, repeating a chant from before.
"Destroyer of the ice barrier. Be channelled into the mirror formed from ice, and bless the young warrior! Ritual Summon! Level 9! Nekroz of Trishula!"
Trishula reappeared, swinging his cold ice blade through the air.
[Nekroz of Trishula (9*/2700/2000/WATER/Warrior/Ritual/Effect)]
"Since Shurit was tributed, I will add another Warrior "Nekroz" monster from my deck to my hand," Kyorin said. "And then, Trishula will banish another three cards—one from your graveyard, which will be Charon, another from your field—Malacoda, to avoid the mutual destruction effect—and a random one from your hand." The three cards were frozen in place and vanished. "Regal Shock Freeze!"
She breathed out slowly.
Alright.
Malacoda could no longer lower her monster's attack points unexpectedly. Cagna had 1500 attack points.
2700 minus 1500…
Um. Um.
Kyorin tapped on the calculator buttons built into her duel disk.
1200.
(She had basically grown up unable to do math. She couldn't exactly help it. Dyscalculia was a bitch.)
(But she'd had basically the perfect upbringing. Compared to Yuji and Chiaki, who had suffered so much before they had been adopted… what could she complain about, really?)
Yuji had 2800 life points.
In that case—
"I will Normal Summon Dance Princess of the Nekroz!" Kyorin declared. In front of her, a robed mage with long, curly red hair appeared, holding onto a gold staff with the Nekroz symbol topping it.
[Dance Princess of the Nekroz (4*/1600/800/WATER/Spellcaster/Effect)]
"While I control Dance Princess of the Nekroz, you cannot target my "Nekroz" monsters with card effects," Kyorin declared. "As far as I remember, all your defensive card effects require you to target. I will defeat you and bring you back to your senses, Yuji—no matter how strong I have to become! Go, Trishula! Attack his monster! Frozen Strike!"
Cagna was destroyed, a card slipping out of Yuji's deck into his graveyard as the demon was destroyed.
Yuji: 2800 - 1200 = 1600LP
"And Dance Princess will attack directly! End this!"
Ice shot out towards Yuji, blanketing him in snow.
And yet, his life points didn't fall.
The snow parted. There was a tiny green plant on Yuji's field.
"If my opponent declares a direct attack," Yuji muttered, a brief look of disgust crossing his face, "I can Special Summon Predaplant Sarraceniant from my hand. I Special Summoned it in Defense Position."
[Predaplant Sarraceniant (1*/100/600/DARK/Plant/Effect)]
Predaplant?
Serena jolted up. "Yuri!..." She hissed out.
"Yes," Yuji said. "He gave it to me. Something about celebrating that I was on a side that would make use of my abilities—not that I felt that it was worth celebrating."
Kyorin decided to take the replay. "Dance Princess will attack Sarraceniant!" The small plant was easily destroyed. However, immediately afterwards, Dance Princess was wrapped up by vines.
"When Predaplant Sarraceniant battles a monster, the opposing monster is destroyed after damage calculation."
Kyorin grimaced. "... I end my turn."
Yuji currently had no cards in his hand, as he drew.
[Turn 6: Yuji] [H:1]
Yuji looked at the card, and he fell silent.
"I will activate my set card, the Trap Card, Thieving Shadows of the Burning Abyss," he said. "I will draw two cards, but during the End Phase, I must destroy all Spells or Traps that I control." He swiped up two more cards from his deck. A slightly resigned look revealed itself on his face. "… I suppose I have no choice. I didn't want it to come to this."
He placed down a card.
"I will Normal Summon Armageddon Knight." The dark warrior in the red scarf appeared on Yuji's field.
[Armageddon Knight (4*/1400/1200/DARK/Warrior/Effect)]
"I will then use Armageddon Knight's effect to send Cir, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss from my deck to the graveyard. And with Cir's effect, I will revive Scarm." The white-haired demon reappeared on Yuji's field, before exploding, since Yuji controlled a non-Burning Abyss monster.
[Scarm, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss (3*/800/2000/DARK/Fiend/Effect)]
"I already got rid of Charon," Kyorin said aloud. "So… unless you have another copy?"
"I do not." Yuji held out a card in his hand. "… I have only summoned this card once in my life. The last time I summoned it—it nearly killed a man. That's the reason why I never did so again." He closed his eyes. "It's been almost five years since then. I think it should be alright now. There's no need to fight like that anymore."
He wasn't talking to them, Kyorin realised. He was talking to the card—telling it that there was no need to be violent, that it was alright.
He was trying to spare her life, against a card that was supposedly dangerous.
"If my life points are 2000 or less," Yuji said, "I can Ritual Summon this card from my hand by tributing DARK monsters with a total Level of 7 or more from my field or hand."
"A Special Summoning clause that allows you to Ritual Summon a Ritual Monster without a Ritual Spell?" Kyorin gasped.
"I will tribute the Level 4 Armageddon Knight on my field and the Level 3 Cagna, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss in my hand." He pressed the card to his chest. "… to think that someone would push me to use this… to think it would be you, the girl who was always so scared to duel."
He placed the card down.
"Misery incarnate," he chanted, as shadows and flames began to flicker around his pale figure. "Which way shall you fly, in infinite wrath and infinite despair? Dragon serving as the embodiment of hell, sink lower into the infinite abyss, beyond that plane of any mortal comprehension, and return back stronger than before, your feathers stained with demonic intent! Now, devour me as tribute, and let the hell I suffer form a new heaven!"
For a moment, Kyorin thought about Chiaki, and how she teased Yuji about how all his summoning chants were based on things he read.
Papa shared this one with me.
Paradise Lost…
Oh, Yuji.
"Advent," Yuji declared, in the exact same way that Chiaki would finish off her summoning chants. "Level 7. Mythical creature slumbering in the depths of the fallen abyss—Empty Abyss Ritual Dragon!"
At first, nothing appeared. Then, in front of Yuji, shadows slowly began to rise from the ground. Flames darted around the shadows, before instantly being swallowed. The shadows formed a sphere that grew wider and wider, and then, from within the sphere, two ice cold eyes stared outwards—blue orbs peering from within the darkness.
Then, the shadows at the side were pushed aside—or rather, torn to shreds by long, grey feathers. At first, Serena and Kurosaki were both confused—dragons didn't usually have feathered wings, did they? However, the wings unfurled sharply, revealing their wingspan to be about six times Yuji's height. While the wings were primarily grey, there were some dull blue feathers within its primary feathers, with slightly more of them in the secondary feathers, growing darker and darker as they got closer to the coracoid—or the bone connecting the wing to the base of the dragon's body. Then, the shadows completely melted away, revealing the dragon's true form.
Blue flames surrounded the dragon, though it wasn't overwhelmingly covered by the flames—there were just some flames on its feet, wings and body, blue embers falling off it to the sizzling hot ground of the volcano floor. It was primarily grey, with its main body covered in scales, though there were still some tufts of light grey feathers at its black-blue claws. All four of its claws were on the ground, pressing against it and drawing long gashes through it—the dragon was quadrupedal. The front of its grey-scaled head was covered with a black plate of armour that resembled a mask. The 'mask', however, was cracked slightly down the middle. Its ice blue eyes were hollow—there was no light from within them at all. From the top of its head, a thin black horn emerged, with a spiral of blue around it that appeared like curving stripes around the horn. Floating above the horn was a grey, cracked ellipse that might have been a halo, once. The dragon's tail resembled a chain of glass shards, infused with blue flames.
There were shackles around each of the dragon's claws, but the chains connected to each of the shackles had been cracked to pieces, with only short bits of metal attached to them.
[Empty Abyss Ritual Dragon (7*/2800/2000/DARK/Dragon/Ritual/Effect)]
Kyorin took a step back, her heart feeling like it was running a mile.
If Chiaki Katsuya's ace had been a dragon that belonged with the angels, then Yuji Fujita's ace was a dragon that had been cast out of heaven.
What on earth…
It was as though the world had been struck silent.
"When Empty Abyss Ritual Dragon is Ritual Summoned," Yuji said, "when she is Ritual Summoned, all Special Summoned monsters on the field have their attack points reduced to 0 until the End Phase! Suppression Decree!" Empty Abyss let out a loud roar that sounded beastly, and yet there was a quieter echo that sounded like an angelic melody. Trishula collapsed to the ground, his strength completely sapped from him.
[Nekroz of Trishula: 2700 → 0ATK]
"I will send a "Burning Abyss" Spell or Trap from my deck to the graveyard with Cagna's effect. Now, you have two cards left in hand," Yuji said. "One is a Warrior Ritual Monster, and the other is currently unknown. If you had added Brionac or Clausolas to your hand, you would have used their effects by now. Thus, your hand consists of Trishula and another card, which isn't Valkyrus—or you would have Ritual Summoned it too, to add more cards to your hand. Thus, neither of the cards in your hand can stop my attack."
"You followed my actions that far?"
Yuji tugged at his hood, seeming uncomfortable. "On the turn that I use Empty Abyss Ritual Dragon's effect, while I control it, it is the only monster that can declare an attack. Attack Nekroz of Trishula." Empty Abyss flew up, wings flaring out as blue fire began to form around them. "Hellfire Devastation!" The dragon's wings were surrounded by blue flames, which shot forward, destroying Trishula on the field, and tossing Kyorin back against the hot rocks. Kyorin hadn't even gone to look for Action Cards though—and Serena almost couldn't bring herself to watch.
Kyorin: 200 - 2800 = 0LP
Winner: Yuji Fujita!
Yuji hopped down from the rocks, walking towards Kyorin. His intentions were clear.
"Oi, you!" Serena shouted, standing up. "She's your friend!"
Yuji ignored her. He reached Kyorin and raised his duel disk.
A moment passed.
Kyorin weakly pushed herself up. "I knew it," she whispered.
Yuji turned away from her, his duel disk lowering, his fingers drifting away from the carding function. There was an unreadable expression on his face.
"You realise it now, right?" Kyorin said. "You say that you only care about Chiaki, and maybe that's true. But you can't card me, because deep down, you don't just want to protect Chiaki. You want everything to return to how it was before—including me. That's why you can't card me."
Yuji didn't reply. That silence was enough of a response, however.
"Maybe I really don't know you, Yuji. But even if I don't really know you, I still care about you, no matter what."
"... ridiculous," Yuji said. "No one can care about someone they don't know. The person you care about doesn't exist."
Kyorin reached out, grabbing Yuji's hand. Yuji jerked away from her, but Kyorin didn't let go, making eye contact with him. There was an unflinching gentleness to her expression. "If we needed to know everything about a person to care about their plight," she said, "then no one would ever be able to care for someone else. You chose to be kind to me, Yuji—and don't say that it was only because of Chiaki, because it was not. You could've easily just ignored me when she wasn't around, but you didn't. And you're not the only one that wants to go back to those days! So, please, Yuji…"
Her voice faltered for a moment.
"If they want to kidnap these girls with the bracelets, then clearly, they need them whole and in one piece, right? So they won't hurt Chiaki, even if you come with us."
Yuji closed his eyes—
And then he dropped the bombshell that no one there had any knowledge of. The whole reason that he had given up on trying to figure out a way to escape on his own.
"There is no home for us to go home to, Kyorin Rinsoka."
Kyorin's hand loosened. She stared at him in horror.
"After the relatively successful invasion of the Xyz Dimension five months ago," Yuji continued, even as Kurosaki tensed up, "the plans for the Ritual and Link Dimensions moved forward. Since the Professor's main target—Chiaki—was already captured, they simply sent an invasion force to the Ritual Dimension to card as many people as possible. I've seen the reports, Kyorin. Even if you wanted to go home, there is nothing there for us anymore."
"... no…" Kyorin covered her face for a moment, clearly close to tears.
That did it.
Serena darted forward and punched Yuji straight in the face, shoving him back. She grabbed the collar of his shirt, glaring at him.
"You jackass," she seethed. "You could have picked any better way to explain it. You said it only to hurt her!"
Yuji frowned—genuine confusion, not like the mocking frown that Yuri would often give her. "No. I didn't. I simply wanted her to understand why I couldn't listen to her."
… he meant it.
He genuinely meant it.
He couldn't see how he was being cruel. Either that, or his idea of how to communicate with others was so warped that he genuinely thought he was being kind when he said those things.
You are so different from Yuri, and yet exactly the same.
Serena gritted her teeth, letting go of him. "Then I'll duel you," she said. She didn't know why Sora hadn't caught up yet—as confident as Hikage and Tsukikage had been, Sora Shiun'in was still very strong—but they had to move forward. Move past him.
"... I guess it can't be helped." Yuji was about to raise his duel disk when he froze in place. Then, a hand pressed against Serena's shoulder.
Serena turned over. Yuno Sugisaki smiled at her. "Sorry, I know you're getting fired up," he said. "But I think he's my opponent." He turned towards Yuji, the two boys with the same face sizing each other up. "Yuya's holding off Sora. And when I take down that fire wall of his, you should go as far as you can."
"Why should I leave this to you?"
"Well, I heard a little of what you guys were saying while I was coming over," Yuno said. His smile was still brightly on his face as he turned towards Yuji. "And, well, this can't go any worse than the last time I dueled someone with the same face as me. I think if you dueled him, you'd just bash his head in." His fingers were pressing against the screen of his duel disk. "I want to try and reach out to him."
"He's just like Yuri," Serena objected. "He's irredeemable—"
"If you really think that," Yuno said, "then you haven't been listening." He clicked another button, and the wall of flames dissipated. Tsukikage, who had picked up Kurosaki, began to carry him out of the area. Serena gritted her teeth, before moving forward and helping Kyorin up. The four of them vacated the area, though Serena cast a look back at the two of them before she left.
"Not going to chase after them?" Yuno asked after a moment.
"I wouldn't be able to keep them in one place with you around," Yuji replied in a flat tone. "You are… Boundless Sea."
"Yuno Sugisaki, at your service," Yuno greeted cheerfully.
"You're still smiling. Don't you care that your friend lost to me?"
"Of course I care. I care a lot about that." Yuno didn't stop smiling. "But Kyorin's pretty strong. She'll recover."
"Then why are you here?"
… because I can tell from looking at you that you are alone.
With no one to count on, no one that you can trust, and no one to tell you when you're contradicting yourself.
That loneliness, and at the same time… a deep despair. You have no hope at all, and I don't know why.
I don't know all the details. I think I'll have to ask the others to tell me later.
But I don't ever want to see someone look like that.
Yuno couldn't help it.
When he saw someone all alone, he could only ever step forward to try and help them.
"Let's duel, Yuji Fujita," he said, still offering a smile. "Maybe you'll figure out why along the way."
Yuji raised his duel disk. He seemed curious.
And so, even as Yuya dueled Sora behind them, and the rest encountered Obelisk Force members, the two boys with the same face prepared to duel.
Duel 1 Summary: Kyorin Rinsoka vs Yuji Fujita
Duel Format: Action Duel
Turn 1: Kyorin Rinsoka
Kyorin Normal Summons Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands. (4*/1400/1000) She adds a Ritual Spell to her hand. She activates the Ritual Spell, Nekroz Cycle, tributing Shurit, Strategist of the Nekroz in her hand as the full tribute. She Ritual Summons Nekroz of Valkyrus (8*/2900/1700) in Attack Position. Shurit's effect lets her add a "Nekroz" Warrior Ritual Monster from her Deck to her hand. With Valkyrus's effect, she tributes Manju on the field and Exa, Enforcer of the Nekroz in her hand to draw 2 cards. With Exa's effect, since it was tributed, she also adds a "Nekroz" Dragon Ritual Monster to her hand. She ends her turn.
Turn 2: Yuji Fujita
Yuji draws. He Normal Summons Graff, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss (3*/1000/1500) and Special Summons Barbar, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss. (3*/1700/1000) He Xyz Summons Dante, Traveler of the Burning Abyss (R3/1000/2500/OU:2) Dante's effect allows him to detach an Overlay Unit and send the top three cards of his Deck to the graveyard, with Dante gaining 500 ATK for each one. (DTOTBA: 1000 + 500 x 3 = 2500ATK) Graff, Farfa, Draghig and Cir's effects activate. Graff Special Summons Cagna, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss (3*/1500/300) in Attack Position from the Deck. Farfa targets Valkyrus to banish it, but Kyorin discards Trishula to negate the effect. Draghig places a "Burning Abyss" card on top of the deck, and Cir revives Graff. Yuji sets 1 card and ends his turn. Dante's ATK goes back to normal.
Turn 3: Kyorin Rinsoka
Kyorin draws. She discards Nekroz of Catastor to revive Shurit. She discards Nekroz of Unicore to add a "Nekroz" card from her graveyard to her hand. She adds Nekroz Cycle back to her hand and activates it, tributing Shurit to Ritual Summon Nekroz of Gungnir. (7*/2500/1700) With Shurit's effect, she adds another "Nekroz" Warrior Ritual Monster from her Deck to her hand. She then uses Nekroz of Valkyrus's effect, tributing Great Sorcerer of the Nekroz and Ariel, Priestess of the Nekroz in her hand to draw two cards. Then, with Sorcerer's effect, she adds a "Nekroz" Spellcaster Ritual Monster from her Deck to her hand. With Ariel's effect, she adds a non-Ritual "Nekroz" monster from her Deck to her hand. She then discards a "Nekroz" monster from her hand to use Gungnir's effect, targeting Dante to destroy it.
Yuji chains Fire Lake of the Burning Abyss, sending Dante and Graff from the field to the graveyard to destroy Nekroz of Valkyrus and Nekroz of Gungnir. Dante lets Yuji add Cir from his GY to his hand. Graff Special Summons Scarm, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss (3*/800/2000) from the Deck, and with Barbar's effect, Yuji banishes Fire Lake, Draghig and Farfa from the GY to inflict 300 damage to Kyorin for each. [KR: 4000 - 300 x 3 = 3100LP] Kyorin banishes Nekroz Cycle from her GY, along with Great Sorcerer to add the Ritual Spell, Nekroz Mirror from her Deck to her hand. She activates Nekroz Mirror, banishing Shurit from the GY to act as the full tribute. She Ritual Summons Nekroz of Trishula. (9*/2700/2000) With Trishula's effect, Kyorin banishes a card from Yuji's hand, Dante from his GY and Scarm from his field. Trishula attacks and destroys Cagna. [YF: 4000 - 1200 = 2800LP] Since Cagna was sent to the GY, Yuji sends a "Burning Abyss" Spell/Trap from his Deck to the GY. Kyorin ends her turn.
Turn 4: Yuji Fujita
Yuji draws. He activates Pre-Preparation of Rites, adding a Ritual Spell and a Ritual Monster specifically listed in that Ritual Spell's card text from the Deck to his hand. He banishes Sins Cast into the Burning Abyss from the GY to add Graff back to his hand. Then, he activates Good & Evil in the Burning Abyss. He tributes Graff and Scarm in his hand to Ritual Summon Malacoda, Netherlord of the Burning Abyss (6*/2700/22000 from his hand in Attack Position. With Graff's effect, he Special Summons Cagna from his Deck. He discards Charon, Ferry Boatman of the Burning Abyss, from his hand with Malacoda's effect to lower Trishula's ATK and DEF by Charon's. (NOT: 2700 - 2400 = 300ATK; 2000 - 2600 = 0DEF) Malacoda attacks Trishula. Kyorin discards Nekroz of Decisive Armor, increasing Trishula's ATK and DEF by 1000. (NOT: 300 + 1000 = 1300ATK; 2000 - 2600 + 1000 = 400DEF) Malacoda's attack destroys Trishula. [KR: 3100 - 1400 = 1700LP] Cagna attacks directly. [KR: 1700 - 1500 = 200LP] Yuji sets 1 card facedown and ends his turn. Scarm lets him add a Level 3 DARK Fiend monster from his Deck to his hand.
Turn 5: Kyorin Rinsoka
Kyorin draws. She banishes Nekroz Mirror from her graveyard, along with Exa, to add Nekroz Cycle to her hand. Exa's effect Special Summons a banished "Nekroz" monster, so she Special Summons Shurit to her field. She activates Nekroz Cycle, tributing Shurit to Ritual Summon Nekroz of Trishula from her GY in Attack Position. She banishes a card from Yuji's hand, Malacoda from his field and Charon from his GY. With Shurit's effect, she adds another copy of Nekroz of Trishula from her Deck to her hand. She Normal Summons Dance Princess of the Nekroz (4*/1600/800) from her hand. Trishula attacks and destroys Cagna. [YF: 2800 - 1200 = 1600LP] Dance Princess attacks directly. Yuji Special Summons Predaplant Sarraceniant (1*/100/600) from his hand in Defense Position. Dance Princess redirects her attack to it, and destroys it, before being destroyed by Sarraceniant's effect. Kyorin ends her turn.
Turn 6: Yuji Fujita
Yuji draws. He activates the Trap Card, Thieving Shadows of the Burning Abyss, drawing 2 cards. He Normal Summons Armageddon Knight (4*/1400/1200) and sends Cir to the GY, reviving Scarm, before Scarm is destroyed with its own effect. He tributes Armageddon Knight on the field and Cagna in his hand to Ritual Summon Empty Abyss Ritual Dragon (7*/2800/2000) with its own effect. Cagna sends a "Burning Abyss" Spell/Trap from Yuji's Deck to the GY. Empty Abyss reduces the ATK of all Special Summoned monsters on the field to 0. (NOT: 2700 - 2700 = 0ATK) Empty Abyss attacks and destroys Trishula. [KR: 200 - 2800 = 0LP] Yuji wins.
OC Cards:
Sins Cast into the Burning Abyss
(Spell/Ritual)
This card can be used to Ritual Summon any DARK Ritual Monster. You must also Tribute monsters from your hand or field whose total Levels exactly equal the Level of the Ritual Monster you Ritual Summon. If your opponent controls a monster Special Summoned from the Extra Deck, and the monster that you are Ritual Summoning with this card's effect is a "Burning Abyss" monster, you can also Tribute 1 "Burning Abyss" monster in your Deck. During the Main Phase, except the turn that this card was sent to the GY: You can banish this card from your GY; add 1 "Burning Abyss" monster from your GY to your hand.
Charon, Ferry Boatman of the Burning Abyss
(7*/2400/2600/DARK/Fiend/Ritual/Effect)
You can Ritual Summon this card with "Sins Cast into the Burning Abyss". If this card is Ritual Summoned: You can target 1 "Burning Abyss" monster in your GY; Special Summon it in Defense Position. If this card battles a Special Summoned monster, during the start of the Damage Step: You can pay 500LP; Send both this card and the monster it is battling to the GY. If this card is sent to the GY: You can add 1 "Burning Abyss" Spell/Trap from your Deck to your hand.
Thieving Shadows of the Burning Abyss
(Trap)
If you control no Spell/Traps: You can draw 2 cards, but during the End Phase, destroy all Spell/Traps you control. You can banish this card from the GY; Special Summon 1 "Burning Abyss" monster from your GY with its effects negated. You can only activate each effect of "Thieving Shadows of the Burning Abyss" once per turn.
Empty Abyss Ritual Dragon
(7*/2800/2000/DARK/Dragon/Ritual/Effect)
You can reveal this card in your hand while you have 2000 or less LP: Tribute DARK monsters on the field and/or in your hand with a total Level of 7 or more; Special Summon this card from your hand. (This is treated as a Ritual Summon.) If this card is Ritual Summoned: All other Special Summoned monsters on the field have their ATK become 0 until the End Phase. On the turn you activate this effect, while you control this face-up card, no other monsters you control can attack. Effect not fully revealed.
End Notes:
The star of the show is here! Empty Abyss Ritual Dragon is about to crush all your skulls! *clears throat* For those wondering why it has to have blue in its design—it's the Ritual Dragon, so it has to fit the theme of summoning method colours. And if you're wondering why Magnetic Current was primarily purple, and this one is primarily grey, instead of having their primary colours be dark blue and light blue—I just thought that the dragons designed would look too similar. (I also deliberately didn't choose the same violet as Starving Venom or black like Dark Rebellion.) Therefore, I took some light creative liberties and made them secondary colours instead. Hope you all don't mind. Also, in terms of how large Empty Abyss is, I literally went and got screencaps of the other dimension dragons and measured how large they were to scale with characters, to make sure I wasn't making it too large. I think this works. Also, it's quadrupedal, because I thought it would be nice for it to have one design detail that matched Odd-Eyes, since they both start in the Main Deck. And no, you cannot convince me that Odd-Eyes walks on two legs. Anyway, Empty Abyss's description is super long, but that's because its design is just a lot more complicated than Magnetic Current, in terms of individual details.
Ok, but believe it or not, this card is balanced when compared to the other Dimension Dragons. Like, this is its sixth iteration, and I still think I could've buffed it slightly. As most of you can probably tell—it's an inverse of Starving Venom Fusion Dragon in some ways. The stats are the most obvious giveaway, but it also requires specifically DARK monsters, and affects all Special Summoned monsters. I'll close my mouth on the last two effects that were redacted even though I really want to spoil them. Anyway, why am I calling this long-ass card balanced? It has an ATK changing effect—but it's the only monster that can attack on the first turn while you control it, so since it's Yuji's ace, he's only going to be able to deal 2800 damage maximum on the turn he summons it, as opposed to how Starving Venom can wreck someone on the very first turn. If Empty Abyss currently seems underwhelming—please wait a few more chapters. :) I promise it's very worth it to see the full effect. As you can tell, it doesn't have its 'Level 5 or higher' effect yet.
The clause that allows it to be Ritual Summoned without a Ritual Spell is a reference to bullshit Duelist Kingdom rules from the original series, since people started with 2000LP there. It's a Ritual Dragon that can be summoned with a monster effect—since I don't want one of the Dimension Dragons to be far more painful to summon than the rest. *stares at Magnetic Current* Well, it's too late for that. The fact that it's based on a fallen angel is a reference to Zarc himself initially being a kind person who was later corrupted by the United World, and also a reference to… *gestures wildly* literally everything about Yuji's character, whether it's the kind of literature he enjoys, his current role in the plot or his personality. I'm pretty satisfied with the dragon's design. In a previous iteration, it was named Fallen Abyss Ritual Dragon, but I think I prefer this.
(It's funny to me that I had to dedicate 3 whole paragraphs of these End Notes just to Empty Abyss. You guys have no clue how long I've been waiting for this.)
Timeline explanation! In canon, Sora catches up, and Hikage intercepts him while Serena, Shun and Tsukikage leave. The reason why the Obelisk Force don't catch up to them immediately, just like in canon, is because Dennis is curious about Yuji, and wants to see what he does. That's why the Obelisk Force show up at such perfect timing—as seen within the chapter itself.
Serena directly saying that she's rebelling against Academia to Sora is intentional. I always found it weird that Shun trusted her more than the other Lancers—so I want to give them a small bonding moment. I intend for Shun and Serena to have a bit of a sibling-like relationship too in this story.
Fun fact—when I first created this story, the plan was for Shun and Nue to tag team against Yuji here. Honestly, I could not tell you the rationale behind that—it makes no sense at all. I changed that because it would make Yuji look too OP too early. Anyway, Kyorin vs Yuji was decided upon soon after that, long before I even wrote Chapter 1. It helps that both of their decks are actually good, so it's a lot easier to write a balanced duel. Why do they use no Action Cards? I was having so much fun writing that I forgot Action Cards existed, so we're pretending that Kyorin just wanted to duel on even ground.
Another fun fact, uh—Kyorin's name is written as 響凛 (kyourin/kyorin) - Cold echo. Though that is a coincidence—I gave her the Nekroz deck long before I decided what to name her. There is a second reason why her name is Kyorin, and that reason is actually more important, but I'm going to have to wait to explain that.
Kyorin and Yuji's entire conversation here was written long before Chapter 1 of this entire story. It's just been sitting in my notes as I patiently waited for this chapter. In fact, 90% of this chapter's first draft was done before I even wrote Chapter 1. So we get the full backstory of how Yuji and Chiaki met! Yuji has only like two brain cells right now, and they're both so focused on protecting Chiaki in the short term that, as Kyorin points out, he doesn't perceive how he's stopping her from being rescued in the long term. Still though, Yuji does make a good point that if the girls are rescued but the 'good guys' aren't strong enough to protect them, they'll just be captured again. Also, he's been misled into thinking that the Professor has only captured Chiaki as leverage to use against him, so he doesn't know that the Professor will probably never hurt Chiaki, since she looks like Ray.
Yes, the final duel of the Maiami Championship is going to be Yuno vs Yuji. Yuya is dueling Sora in the background, and since Yuno managed to take down Yuji's wall of flames, Serena, Kurosaki and Tsukikage will head forward to where they were in canon, to face off against the Obelisk Force. No interference happening in that duel.
There is an omake that has been published in addition to this chapter, under a different fic. It's definitely meant to be funny, so it doesn't really fit the tone, so I posted it as a separate fic. My friend loves writing omakes, so I got her permission to post them. I might post a few more—she mainly writes them for fun, and she doesn't have an account, so she offered them to me.
But that's not next chapter. What's next chapter? *whistles* Well, there are certain characters who haven't done anything in this tournament yet. So I'm going to let them enter the fray soon. So Chapter 20 will be for that, and Chapter 21 will cut back to Yuno vs Yuji.
Review responses! (I didn't realise that we're past 100 reviews. That's pretty nice! Thanks to everyone who's read and reviewed thus far.)
For the Guest asking about VRAINS, if I ever write a VRAINS fic, it won't be soon. I personally don't find VRAINS as interesting of a universe to write in, because there are so many holes that have to be filled in—the world has to be further developed so much more, and it requires more time to plan. Every character has so much depth to them—I could write a 10000 word essay easily about how good VRAINS's characters are. In a better show, they would've been developed far more. I wouldn't know where to start if it came to a fic like that.
… that being said, I am going to be contradicting myself right now and saying that I do have a VRAINS fic somewhat roughly planned for after Six Dimensions is done. Yuno and Miharu will be major characters, but neither of them are the main character. In response to what you said about WATER decks, Yuno's main association is with water, and that's not going to change any time soon.
For LHOCIN, thanks for pointing out last chapter's duel error. Once again, you're spot on. Hope you enjoyed the duel. My main goal with characters in this story is that I want all of them to be human—to have motives, to have more than just one character trait. Thus, my writing of Yuri also follows that.
For DSpaceZ, hello! I definitely agree that it doesn't make sense for Yuri to lose this early. Hope you enjoyed Empty Abyss's reveal up above—I do intend to reveal the full effect very soon.
For HunterHQ, Yuya vs Sora is happening in the background, and I don't intend to take away from Yuya's character growth, so he will still be dueling Reiji, yes. I have a different duel finale planned for the Standard Arc, though.
For phantomdragons, thanks for the duel feedback! I try my best. :) I won't reply to the rest of your comment though, you'll just have to wait and see.
For Combo Enthusiast, I do know the combos for Dragon Link, but I don't really know a lot about link combos, since a lot of the decks I play focus on Fusion or Xyz.
For naminexriku2468, Yuji doesn't know martial arts. Between Yuji and Chiaki, Chiaki is actually the one that's better at fighting and self-defence, while Yuji is more street-smart. For example, Chiaki is the one that will beat a ton of guys up, but Yuji is the one that will successfully pickpocket tons of people without anyone noticing. They both had to learn different skills while growing up on the streets. Yuji can fight, but it's only to a limited extent, and as a last resort. In terms of Rin, we saw Yuji kidnap Rin on screen in Chapter 7, so you can refer back to that if you forgot. I won't comment on Yugo and Yuji meeting, since anything about how characters meet in the future is kind of spoilery.
Last but not least, for the Guest that asked if there is a different opening for each arc… probably! :) I do have ideas for the Synchro arc's opening. I'll think about it.
That should wrap things up! See you guys next chapter!